It was on its face a preposterous claim: Donald Trump will “drain the swamp” in Washington, DC. It made headlines and boosted support for the billionaire. It became a rallying point for millions of Americans.

Problem is, he didn’t mean it, at least not according to adviser Newt Gingrich. It was mostly an election ploy.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington of corruption, but now that he’s preparing to move into the White House, Newt Gingrich said the Manhattan real estate mogul is looking to distance himself from that message. Gingrich told Politico:

“I’m told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn’t want to use it anymore,” the former House Speaker and close Trump adviser said of the “drain the swamp” message in an NPR interview published Wednesday morning.

Trump’s Cabinet and other high-level appointments seem to have deviated somewhat from his “drain the swamp” message. After attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton regularly throughout the campaign for being too close to Wall Street banks, Trump has put three former Goldman Sachs executives in prominent White House positions, including Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary, Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist and Gary Cohn as the director of the National Economic Council.

During the election campaign, I pointed all of this out and received a scorching response on social media. Give him a chance, I was told. Who’s side are you on?

It was obvious from the start Donald Trump was not straight with us. He made promises tailored to gain the vote of Americans fed-up with the establishment, the corrupt political state of the nation, and its looting and offshoring of jobs by bankers and transnational corporations. He criticized Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton for their Goldman Sachs money and connections.

Millions of Americans are tired of endless wars. Trump played into this by coming off as an “isolationist,” establishment-speak for a non-interventionist.

It was all show business.

Jon Schwartz hit the spot when he wrote on December 9 “Trump makes America Goldman’s again!”

Anthony Scaramucci, one of Trump’s top transition advisers and a frequent cable news talking head, had two separate stints at Goldman Sachs, most recently as vice president in private wealth management, according to CNN Money. Cohn became a partner at Goldman Sachs in 1994, four years into a lengthy career there.

In other words, get over it. Business at the White House will go on as before, albeit with a few Trumpian eccentricities.

It really is remarkable the way America was played—again.

Now we have an even more severe political divide between two artificially maintained parties, both controlled by the corporatists. Demonstrations and riots are predicted within Trump’s first 100 days. The elite have mastered the art of divide and conquer.

5 Comments

I think through this whole election cycle, we now see who the real independent media is. Those who were labeled as such and backed this Fraud Trump should be igored and taken as seriously as the corporate/establishment media. You know who you are out there…..

You have hit the nail on the head. Try going into a forum and suggest that there’s a false left/right paradigm… mention the REAL perps behind 911… ask how we can believe that THIS time, the bankers are ‘on the run’. The response you get is venomous – don’t criticize the current hero. All of that old information has been memory-holed. They’ll ask,”Who’s side are you on?” That is sadly reminiscent of the “You are with us or you’re with the terrorists.” It’s a sad state of affairs, and the elite have managed to polarize the population to the extent that reasoned, civil debate is no longer possible. Welcome to 1984.

You have hit the nail on the head. Try asking Trump worshipers what happened to their awareness of the false left/right paradigm? Ask why, in the past couple of years, all of a sudden the perps behind 911 are the Saudis… really? The response you get is venomous – don’t criticize the current hero. All of that old information has been memory-holed. I feel sorry for people who still cling to the ‘hope’ of ‘change’. It ain’t happening. The elite have managed to polarize the population to the extent that reasoned, civil debate is no longer possible. Welcome to 1984.